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In rail transport, a train is a vehicle or (more frequently) a string of vehicles capable of being moved along a continuous line of rails or other guideway for the purpose of conveying freight or passengers between points on a predetermined route. The train may be hauled or propelled by one or more vehicles designed exclusively for that purpose (locomotives) or may be driven by a number of motors incorporated in all or several of the vehicles (multiple units).

As of 2018, there are approximately 1,052,000 kilometres (654,000 mi) of railway track in use worldwide. (World Bank (via Archive.org))

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Selected article of the week

The Flåm Line (Norwegian: Flåmsbana) is a 20.2-kilometer (12.6 mi) long railway line between Myrdal and Flåm in Aurland, Norway. A branch line of the Bergen Line, it runs through the valley of Flåmsdalen and connects the mainline with Sognefjord. The line's elevation difference is 863 meters (2,831 ft); it has ten stations, twenty tunnels and one bridge. The maximum gradient is 5.5 percent (1:18), making it the steepest standard gauge railway in Europe. Because of its steep gradient and picturesque nature, the Flåm Line is now almost exclusively a tourist service and has become the third-most visited tourist attraction in Norway. Construction of the line started in 1924, with the line opening in 1940. It allowed the district of Sogn access to Bergen and Oslo via the Bergen Line. Electric traction was taken into use in 1944; at first El 9 locomotives were used, and from 1982 El 11. Until 1991, the train connected with a ferry service from Flåm to Gudvangen. In 1992, freight services were terminated, and due to low ticket prices and high operating costs, the line was nearly closed. In 1998, Flåm Utvikling took over marketing and ticket sale for the line, prices were heavily increased and El 17 locomotives were introduced. The trains remain operated by the Norwegian State Railways (NSB), while the line itself is owned and operated by the Norwegian National Rail Administration.

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Selected image of the week

A Finnish railway modeller operates a hand-crafted, coal-fired, 1:8 scale 2-10-0 'live steam' locomotive in 7+1⁄4 in (184 mm) gauge, that he built in 14,000 hours over a period of 15 years.

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Did you know...

...that the opening ceremonies of the Galway to Clifden railway were very sparsely attended because the event date was a strict church holiday and was reserved for attending church services?
...that following heavy damage to the Galveston Island Trolley track and cars from Hurricane Ike in 2008, substitute service with replica buses was operated until service resumed in October 2021?
...that although the former Santa Fe Railway's Galesburg station was demolished after regular passenger service to the station ended in 1996, the site is still used if derailments cause trains to use the Chillicothe Subdivision instead of the Mendota Subdivision?
...that the Fuzhou–Xiamen railway, which opened in 2010, was so heavily used that it reached capacity in 2015, spurring construction on the parallel Fuzhou–Xiamen high-speed railway for CRH passenger train services?

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Selected anniversaries

January 15

Aftermath of the Boston molasses disaster

1915 – The final spike is driven on the transcontinental Canadian Northern Railway at Basque, British Columbia.
1919 – Support beams of the Boston Elevated Railway's Atlantic Avenue line are severed and a train is derailed when molasses and debris are propelled under the railroad's superstructure in the Boston molasses disaster (pictured).
1953 – The brakes fail on Pennsylvania Railroad's westbound Federal Express passenger train; the train barrels through the end of track barriers and stationmaster's office at Union Station in Washington, D.C., but nobody is killed in the accident.
1990 – VIA Rail discontinues half of the passenger train services it offers across Canada, including reducing the number of transcontinental trains to one service connecting Toronto, Ontario, and Vancouver, British Columbia. After the last transcontinental passenger train travels its tracks in Ottawa, Canadian Pacific Railway officially abandons its 19.1-mile (30.7 km) long Carleton Place subdivision that connected Carleton Place to Nepean, Ontario.

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Train News

Santa Fe No. 2926 at Albuquerque, New Mexico
July 24, 2021 – Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe No. 2926, a 4-8-4 steam locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1944, moves under its own power for the first time since Christmas Eve of 1953, after nearly twenty-two years of being rebuilt by volunteers. The locomotive will be put into mainline excursion service. (NMSL&RHS, Trains Magazine on Facebook)
Big Boy No. 4012 at Steamtown National Historic Site
May 5, 2021 – Steamtown National Historic Site completes thorough cosmetic overhaul on Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 Big Boy No. 4012, which is moved back on static display before National Train Day. (NEPA Scene)
The derailed Taroko Express trainset, as seen from outside the entrance to the tunnel
April 2, 2021 – 2021 Hualien train derailment – A Taroko Express train operated by the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) derails at the north entrance of Qingshui Tunnel in Heren Section, Xiulin Township, Hualien County, Taiwan, killing 49 people and injuring at least 200 others. North of Hualien City a construction truck had fallen down a slope onto the tracks. The eight-carriage train derailed after colliding with the truck, and then came to a rest in the tunnel, with severe damage and many casualties. (Bloomberg, CNN, CNA, New York Times, Financial Times)

The preserved C&O 1309 at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum in October 2009

December 31, 2020 – Following a complete restoration, Chesapeake and Ohio 1309, a 2-6-6-2 Mallet locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1949, the last steam locomotive built by Baldwin for the North American market, is operated under its own power for test runs. When returned to service on the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad, it will be the largest steam locomotive in regular scheduled service in the United States and take 2-8-0 No. 734’s place as the largest active steam locomotive in the state of Maryland. (Trains.com Newswire)

An Avelia Liberty train on a test run in Delaware in May 2020

September 28, 2020 – Amtrak operates a test run using one of the 28 new Avelia Liberty trains manufactured by Alstom along the full length of the Northeast Corridor to Boston South Station. Previous test runs had occurred from Washington, D.C., only as far north as New Jersey and Delaware. Barring any problems, the trains are expected to enter regular service on the route in 2021. (Universal Hub)

Berryessa/North San José station on the first day of service

June 13, 2020 – The Bay Area Rapid Transit Silicon Valley BART extension opened its stations in Milpitas and North San Jose. (San Jose Spotlight, SF Gate)

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General images

The following are images from various train-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Yard for Amtrak equipment, located next to the Los Angeles River. The two tracks on the left are the mainline. (from Rail yard)
Image 2A prototype of a Ganz AC electric locomotive in Valtellina, Italy, 1901 (from Locomotive)
Image 3The Japanese 0 Series Shinkansen pioneered high speed rail service. (from Train)
Image 4A gas turbine locomotive operated by the Union Pacific Railroad (from Train)
Image 5Baltimore & Ohio electric engine, 1895 (from Locomotive)
Image 6Garratt locomotives in Zimbabwe (from Train)
Image 7A British Rail Class 150 in the United Kingdom (from Railroad car)
Image 8Typical American extended vision caboose (from Railroad car)
Image 9A Metropolitan line S8 Stock at Amersham in London (from Railroad car)
Image 10Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare, by Claude Monet, 1877, Art Institute of Chicago (from Train)
Image 11A narrow gauge train in Austria (from Train)
Image 12Southern Railway (UK) 20002 was equipped with both a pantograph and contact shoes. (from Locomotive)
Image 13Škoda Artic light rail train near the cathedral in Tampere, Finland (from Train)
Image 14An interior of a Circle line S7 Stock in London (from Railroad car)
Image 15A Tokyo Monorail train (from Train)
Image 16This map of Cedar Hill Yard in Connecticut shows a variety of different facilities, including receiving yards, departure yards, classification yards, and a repair yard. (from Rail yard)
Image 17The New Orleans Streetcar System is one of the oldest in the world. (from Train)
Image 18Bombardier ALP-45DP, at the Innotrans convention in Berlin (from Locomotive)
Image 19Electric train on Djursholmsbanan in Stockholm in the 1890s. (from Train)
Image 20Most derailments, such as this one in Switzerland, are minor and do not cause injuries or damage. (from Train)
Image 21A preserved armored train (from Train)
Image 22The EMD FT set the stage for diesel locomotives to take over from steam. (from Train)
Image 23Pacific National diesel locomotives in Australia showing three body types, cab unit (front), hood unit (middle) and box cab (rear) (from Locomotive)
Image 24The first useful diesel locomotive (a diesel–electric) for long distances, the SŽD Eel2, 1924 in Kyiv (from Locomotive)
Image 25A China Railways HXD1D electric locomotive in China (from Locomotive)
Image 26The "hump" of a hump yard. Railcars travel past retarders, which control their speed, and are directed onto tracks to be assembled into new trains. The control tower operates the retarders. (from Rail yard)
Image 27A freight car (boxcar type) for the South Australian Railways, 1926 (from Railroad car)
Image 28Variety of rolling stock in rail yard (from Rolling stock)
Image 29A coach yard in Shanghai, China (from Rail yard)
Image 30Werner von Siemens experimental DC electric train, 1879 (from Locomotive)
Image 31This cab car includes a horn (top), a bell (top right), headlights (above the door), classification lights (red lights on side), and ditch lights (white lights on side). (from Train)
Image 32Second-class compartment of a China Railways CRH1A-A train (from Train)
Image 33Stockton and Darlington special inaugural train 1825: six wagons of coal, directors coach, then people in wagons. (from Train)
Image 34A Union Pacific freight train; high clearances enable double-stacked containers to be carried in well cars. (from Train)
Image 35Workington stabling point in 1981, with locomotives from Classes 25, 40 and 47 parked between duties. (from Rail yard)
Image 36A number of maintenance vehicles at work on Metro-North Railroad (from Train)
Image 37Trains carrying hazardous materials display information identifying their cargo and hazards. This tank car carrying chlorine displays, among other markings, a U.S. DOT placard showing a UN number that identifies the hazardous substance. (from Train)
Image 38British Rail Mark 3 coach, an all-steel car from the 1970s (from Railroad car)
Image 39A narrow-gauge battery–electric locomotive used for mining (from Locomotive)
Image 40US-style railroad truck (bogie) with journal bearings (from Train)
Image 41Restored clerestory cars on display at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom, Wisconsin (from Railroad car)
Image 42A wooden toy train set from Swedish manufacturer Brio (from Train)
Image 43Armored train Hurban located in Zvolen, Slovakia (from Railroad car)
Image 44The Union Pacific Big Boy locomotives represented the pinnacle of steam locomotive technology and power. (from Train)
Image 45Inside a modern-day car from Finland (from Railroad car)
Image 46Soviet RT-23 Molodets ICBM launch train, in the St Petersburg museum (from Railroad car)
Image 47A large Amtrak and Metra coach yard just south of Chicago Union Station. About 25 percent of all rail traffic in the United States travels through the Chicago area. (from Rail yard)
Image 48A Victorian Railways R class steam locomotive in Australia (from Locomotive)
Image 49China operates an extensive high speed rail network. (from Train)
Image 50The 1887 Daimler draisine (from Locomotive)
Image 51A London Underground battery–electric locomotive used for hauling engineers' trains, at West Ham station (from Locomotive)
Image 52Various types of railroad cars in a classification yard in the United States (from Train)